Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909 - 2012)

During WW II, Rita Levi-Montalcini hid from the Nazis in her native Italy, prohibited because she was a Jew from working in academia or practicing medicine, and started her work on chicken embryos. That research eventually won her a Nobel Prize for discovering nerve growth factor, changing how doctors understand, diagnosis, and treat disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Levi-Montalcini's father, Adamo Levi, was an electrical engineer and mathematician, and her mother, Adele Montalcini, was a painter. The family's Jewish roots extend back to the Roman Empire; due to the family's strict and traditional background, Adamo was not supportive of women attending college as it would intrude in their ability to tend to the children and house. Levi-Montalcini had an older brother Gino, who died after a heart attack in 1974. He was one of the most well known Italian architects and a professor at the University of Turin. She had two sisters: Anna, five years older than Rita, and Paola, her twin sister, a popular artist who died on 29 September 2000, age 91. Levi-Montalcini never married and had no children. In a 2006 interview she said: "I never had any hesitation or regrets in this sense... My life has been enriched by excellent human relations, work and interests. I have never felt lonely."

Known for
She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF).

In the 1990s, she was one of the first scientists to point out the importance of the mast cell in human pathology. In the same period (1993), she identified the endogenous compound palmitoylethanolamide as an important modulator of this cell.

From 2001 until her death, she also served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life.

On 22 April 2009, she became the first Nobel laureate ever to reach the age of 100, and the event was feted with a party at Rome's City Hall. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living Nobel laureate

Levi-Montalcini founded the European Brain Research Institute in 2002, and then served as its president. Her role in this institute was at the center of some criticism from some parts of the scientific community in 2010.

Controversies also were raised about the cooperation of Levi-Montalcini with the Italian pharmaceutical industry Fidia.

Find more
Wikipedia

Levi-Montalcini, Rita, In Praise of Imperfection: My Life and Work.(Elogio dell'imperfezione) Basic Books, New York, 1988.

Works based on
Rita-Levi Montalcini: A Pioneer in Neuroscience (PDF), 2016 graphic novel published by the Italian Senate.

Report from her memorial service